Sunday, June 13 - We lazed around this morning. Dorothy fixed our traditional Sunday breakfast of Foule. We sucked up all the free internet we could. Only three more days in the billing cycle and today we will not use any since we will be in a dead zone. So we will squeak in with our 30GB plan.
We left Worland on a road that Glenda picked for us. A shortcut I am sure. We went 30 miles and saw only one car. The roadside was most uninteresting. A desert. Everything was brown.
Heading NW from Cody the terrain became more to our liking. We have passed this way now three times on what they call the Nez Pearce Trail. The trail Chief Joseph used to elude the army who intended to kill every last stinking redskin.
We found our perfect boondock site along the Clark Fork. It was just as we remembered it.
Our campsite
After 6, a guy came in driving an early 2000's Fleetwood Class A. He was towing a Ford Fusion on a dolly. That you told us a lot about him. After a half-hour or so of banging he came over to meet us. We were to learn more about him. The first thing I noted was a Canon camera with a fisheye lens hanging on his neck as an accessory. There was nothing to use that sort of lens for where we were. He tells us he is Chris, that he sold his farm in Virginia last November and bought the RV for $90,000 at Camping World - about twice what it is worth. He put to rest in Bitcoin and has tripled his money to $180,000. Do you see this guy homeless before the end of the year?
Monday, June 14 - We got away at 7 to get through the park before madness descended. That worked pretty well. The east side of Lamar Valley is the most spectacular part of the park for our money. I doubt many would go there if it was not where the buffalo roam. The park is doing huge road construction somewhere near the NE gate. Over three dozen trucks hauling materials passed us. Thankful we got through there before they arrived.
We parked at a cyber friend's second home just north of Gardiner. It's nice, but it was 104 this afternoon. Even with the AC running the inside was never lower than 85. I am not going to fight the heat, we will head north in the morning and head to the coast if necessary.
The Mouse Saga - Over a week ago when we were at Big Horn Canyon, I saw a mouse as soon as we pulled in. Right then I should have set a trap for the little sucker. The next morning we found he dined on a banana. I set the trap. He got the banana out without tripping the trap. The next time I pressed cheese into the mechanism. The trap was nowhere to be found the next morning until I got out a flashlight and found him alive in the trap secured by only one leg. Goodbye mouse.
Tuesday, June 15 - Montana is varied; prairie, badlands/desert, heavily irrigated cropland, and mountains. There is a distinct difference between the extreme eastern part of the state and the rest of the state. In the central and western parts, the terrain constantly changes from one of the above-named types to another in the space of ten miles, then perhaps to another type 20 miles farther along.
The view from our parking place last night was immensely improved by this morning's temperature of 58. We headed north on US59 a new route for us with very little traffic. I was able to cruise at 45 when I wanted to as I was not holding up anyone.
We headed for a Forest Service CG called Kings Hill which is at the top of a pass. At 7,400 feet it promised us a break from the heat. It was closed. So we took another place 1,500 feet down.
It's 95 outside and 88 inside. 9% humidity. The same inside temperature we had yesterday with the AC running all afternoon. The weather is forecast to be cooler starting tomorrow. We shall see.
We haven't built a campfire in a decade or more. In hot weather - no way. But, today we had one and it cooled us off. We were outside with the fan blowing the flies off us. I looked up and saw the sun was shielded by dense smoke from a not-so-distant fire. That's why some ashes were falling on us. It was a blessing. The smoke cleared by 4:30 so perhaps it was a controlled burn and it was quitting time.
Wednesday, June 16 - We continued north on US89. The drive down the Belt Mountains is delightfully scenic. I was able to drive 30-35 and enjoy the roadside and not hold anyone up. There were two mining towns with homes going back 90+ years.
We did the weekly marketing at the new huge Great Falls Walmart. We called our new friend and he met us and took us to lunch. We spent the afternoon jawing.
Great Falls is not RV-friendly. Only one campground and it's next to I15. No thanks. Days End directed us to a vacant lot where we found a level spot and spent a quiet night
Thursday, June 17 - We drove west on MT200. Half of the drive was through prairie with distant views. I don't know of a way to capture it with a camera. You would need a wide-angle lens - nearly 140 degrees and then you would need a 4x6 feet print to see the detail.
When we arrived in Lincoln we discovered we had parked here in 2019. Same site. The same couple from Great Falls was parked across from us.
Dorothy grilled pork chops and baked cauliflower.
We took a drive up into the low mountains. We never found the lake we wanted to find, but we found a lake. I did not take a single picture. Back in town, I had a dish of Huckleberry ice cream and Dorothy had a chocolate shake.
Friday, June 18 - We took 200 to MT36. Sealy Lake sounded familiar, but I could not place it. I did when we got to Salmon Lake which is just south of Sealy in a chain of lakes. A delightful appearing lake with homes lining the shores. We had camped near Sealy in 2019. Part of dementia is every morning you are like a new baby duck.
Did I screw up or was I screwed? My source of information on the FS CG was it was No Reservations. We got there by 11AM but the few no reservation sites had already been snagged. I should have known better than to try to get into a CG with a water feature on a weekend. The last half mile to the CG was on the dustiest road we have ever been on. Of course, I washed the Jeep yesterday. Montana dust is white and very fine. We fixed spaghetti in the day-use area and then a nap. Then we continued to Kalispell parking on the grass at the fairgrounds.
I did not notice my passport had expired until a month before we left. I sent in the renewal and since it has been two months I checked on the status. They show it was received a month after I mailed it and it will take three months to process. That rules out visiting Waterton while we are in the area.
Saturday, June 19 - We spent most of the day visiting with a friend who shares interests with us. She took us to Panda Express. We had seen the restaurant signs before but never been in one. Decent food. Marred by a Chinese woman who did not abla so much and a loud kitchen fan that made understanding her impossible for me.
Sunday, June 20 - We did laundry at Dirty Dan's which has a door opening into a casino. Most gas stations in Montano have a casino. The rest of the day was pretty much a repeat of Saturday.
Monday, June 21 - We got Dorothy's laptop to an Apple store to figure out why it is gobbling up our bandwidth. Malware suspected. Four days into the cycle and it has eaten up 1/3 of our monthly allotment.
The clerk at the Apple store would not admit us without a mask. She was wearing one of those worthless gaither masks. She said they had to be very careful as they were the only Apple store in NW Montana. I said we were vaccinated. That's when she pissed me off by saying people would just say they were vaccinated. Nickel to a dime she was not vaccinated.
Dorothy wants a haircut. Oddly there are only a few salons in the town. She got the only appointment open at Walmart.
Tuesday, June 22 - We went north on US93 passing through Whitefish, which must be the Gatlinburg of the west. Upscale! We continued north to Rexford. Days End promised free parking at the city park. Parking was big enough for vans and offered a railway switching yard only 100 yards distant.
We had passed a gorgeous aquamarine lake on the way to Rexford and it had a Forest Service campground. But we found no turnaround until we got to Rexford. After rejecting the city park and another RV park we went back to Lake Dickey and signed up for two nights. The aqua marine water color is like many of the lakes in BC and Alberta and Glacier.
Rexford must have over two real estate offices.
Lovely photos! Someday we expect you to come our way!
ReplyDeleteKari & Dave